


Get Better

by heartsinshiningarmor



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Light Angst, PREATH - Freeform, august 12 2016 never happened, christen press deserves better, i can't believe i'm still bitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7761211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsinshiningarmor/pseuds/heartsinshiningarmor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a devastating loss to Sweden during the Olympics, Christen Press finds herself only saying sorry. One person tries to change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get Better

**Author's Note:**

> First story ever! Be gentle haha, but I honestly am heartbroken by the loss and more so the beating that Christen's gonna give herself for the PK, so I needed to write something fluffy. Enjoy :) ALSO HOW DO U FORMAT SOMEONE HELP

With a sigh and eyes brimming with tears, Christen dropped down to the cold, concrete floor in the middle of an empty hallway, trying to escape the solemn mood of the locker room. She couldn't bear to look at everyone's glazed eyes and red noses, knowing that the loss was all her fault. No one said anything, but Christen could feel their heavy gazes on her body as she changed. As soon as she finished lacing up her shoes, she grabbed her stuff and bolted out the door, discreetly trying to find a place where she could cry. 

 

        Christen dropped her head into her hands, dark hair covering her face, and her knees propped up to her chest. She let the tears fall silently, only interrupted by small sniffles and hiccups. A loud, persistent noise in her head screamed,  _It's all YOUR fault. It's not Alex's. How could it be Alex? She's the best striker to ever exist,_ _it can't be her fault. It's not Hope's either. Hope is the best goalkeeper in the world. It's all YOUR fault. All your fault that Ali might never win an Olympic gold. All_ _your fault that Mal barely got to play in her first Olympics. All your fault that you made the US lose._ While Christen drowned in tears and emotions, she didn't notice the footsteps moving down the halls and muffled shouts calling her name. The team had thought to give Christen some time alone but they were heading to the hotel soon to pack and no one really wanted Christen to be by herself. But after thirty minutes of searching, no one had seen Christen. The search party, consisting of Julie, Tobin, Ali, and Kelley, resorted to shouting her name as a futile attempt to find their teammate.

 

        When they were about to give up, Julie heard a sniffling sound in a dark hallway, and followed the sound, finally seeing a figure crouched against the wall. She immediately recognized it as Christen, and slowly walked to the trembling girl. 

         "Hey Chris," Julie whispered as she sat down on the ground next to her best friend and wrapped a warm arm around the tan girl.

         "JJ, I messed up, I missed so bad."

         "No you didn't, love, you did so well today. You're good, okay? You're good," Julie reassured.

         "Everyone hates me. The team hates me. The fans hate me. I hate me. Hell, the entire U.S. hates me."

         "No, no, no. Everyone's looking for you. Tobin. Ali. Kelley. We're worried. And if your fans are your true fans, then they won't hate you."

         "I'm sorry JJ. I messed up for you. I messed up for Mal. And Ali. For Carli. For Moe." Julie was nearly in tears at Christen's vulnerable voice.

         "Hey look at me," Julie said, her hands grasping the other's cheeks and tilting her head up so their gazes were level. "It was just a bad game, we all have bad games. Can't win them all. And there's still so much time for us to come back. We're gonna be faster, stronger, smarter, and better. The world won't know what hit them."

         "Would I even come back? Jill might never put me on the roster ever again. She's never had faith in me."

         "What? No. No, no, no. You are not giving up on soccer. You're supposed to continue playing with us. With me. With Alex. With Crystal, with everyone. I can't do this without you. You're supposed to propose on a lit up pitch to Tobin in front of the team remember? And have tiny little Tobins and Christens running around, terrorizing us, because we know how horrible and cute your children are gonna be." Julie got a laugh out of Christen at this.

         "Tobin doesn't even like me like that." For a year or two, Tobin and Christen had been dancing around each other, offering one another soft glances and lingering touches.

         "Right, because private candle-lit dinners, sharing clothes, and her going to your naked photo shoot, doesn't mean anything."

         "First of all, she had gotten reservations from a close friend, and I was the only one available, second of all, she didn't have any other shorts and I did. Third of all, who wouldn't want to see me naked?" Christen joked, mood still sour.

         "You keep telling yourself that. We should get back though, everyone's worried and tired."

         "Thanks JJ. I'm really sorry," Christen apologized. The blonde just smiled and offered a hand to Christen to get back up.

         

         When the pair returned to the locker room, Christen immediately felt eyes on her. The silence and tension was palpable. Her heart rate picked up and she was

positive she was gonna pass out. But Kelley had other ideas as she attacked Christen in a tight hug.

         "Don't ever do that again," Kelley murmured into Christen's ear. Christen then felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and heard Ali's voice.

         "Pressi, if you scare us like that one more time, I will rip apart your stupid planner." The entire team chuckled but Christen just felt tears fall down her face at seeing the team again. 

         "GROUP HUG!" Kling exclaimed and immediately the team enveloped Christen in one big embrace. The emotions overwhelmed her but when she gave her signature smile and everyone felt like everything might be okay again.

 

~

         Christen was nervous to face Mal after the locker room hug, thinking that it was her fault that the young girl couldn't continue her Rio games longer. She opened the hotel room door anyway and saw her heart break when Mal was sitting on the beg with her lower body clutched to her chest. Christen tried to close the door as silently as possible but Mal heard the click of the door and snapped her head up.

        "I'm so sorry Mal. I know I should have made that shot and I didn't and now we're going home and you're not supposed to go home, you were supposed to win and it's my fault that we didn't..." Christen rambled.

        "Oh Chris, no, no, God no. I'm not crying because of the loss. I mean it would have been nice to get a gold at 18 but the team is more important than winning. It's just some of the comments and reactions to today have been so good and I think I'm a bit emotional. The young forward walked over to Christen and gently wrapped her arms around the older girl. "You did so good today."

         "Not as good as you," Christen said.

         "I'm sorry, who assisted that goal to Alex? Unless I suddenly got an amazing tan, gorgeous green eyes, and changed my name to Christen Press, then..."

         "Oh shut up." There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Christen opened it, surprised to see Alex standing there.

         "Hey Pressi," the striker grinned.

         "Baby Horse," Christen countered. The nickname drew a scowl from Alex and Christen gave a tiny smile. "What's up?"

         "I know you're blaming yourself right now. But seriously, do not. This is not the first time that we've lost and it probably won't be the last. We're gonna do great. You're gonna do great. And remember you're not the only one who's missed a PK."

         "I know, but this game mattered so much. It mattered to all the new kids, to all the old kids, to everyone. And now everyone might seem like they're happy with me and hugging and stuff but I know deep down, there's a part that's gonna blame me. And I'm really sorry to you. Like with our pay gap thing and how everything was riding on this game and I blew it."

         "No you didn't. You helped so much, it was just our formation and set up and roster and so much more. But it wasn't you."

         "Thanks Alex, I just feel so useless. I could have helped win but I did the opposite. I mean and maybe you did miss, but you scored the only goal for our team. And you're Alex Morgan.

         "And you're Christen Press. There's no reason to compare us. Period. Are you coming to team dinner?"

         "I don't know, I was gonna bring my food up to the room."

         "You should stay, a certain midfielder's been worrying sick about you."

         "Tobin?" Christen asked, mood lifting up a bit at the girl's name. 

         "She likes you. She's just not good at showing it."

         "What? Wait, what makes you think I like Tobin?"

         "Oh really now? Should I go tell Tobin that you don't like her?"

         "No, no, no, no. It's, just-"

         "I'm messing with you, but I mean you two sort of do everything together. And that kicked-puppy look that you give her every time she's not with you is sort of 

obvious. Oh and you guys talk about each other like the other is everything. Might I add, the naked body photo shoot. And matching clothes. And secret dates."

         "Fine. I do like her. Like a lot. Like I think I'm in love. But after today, I'll be surprised if she ever wants to see my face again. I messed up for her."

         "You idiot! Tobin may be sad that we didn't continue but that doesn't mean that she's blaming you. Come to dinner, you'll see." And with that Alex left, leaving Mal and Christen in their room.

         "So you and Tobin..." Mallory started.

         "Not one word Mal," Christen warned. The younger girl just held up her hands and smiled. After scrolling through her Twitter and seeing the #DogsforChristen tag trending, she felt a bit happier. Soon it was time for dinner, and Christen was anxious to see Tobin. She wasn't sure if she would be met with cold, disappointment, or warm, relief when she stared into Tobin's honey-brown eyes. She was expecting the former. She grabbed a few things from the buffet trays and was conflicted on where to sit. Her indecision was resolved when Alex and Kelley waved her over. Mal had already ran off to Lindsey and Moe, leaving the older girl to her own devices. The only open seat next to them was to the left of Tobin, and Christen internally sighed. But when she sat down, Tobin turned around and gave her a tentative grin. She smiled back and relief flowed through her veins for a moment. 

         "Hey Chris, you doing okay?" the midfielder asked.

         "As okay as someone who let down their entire team at one of the biggest games in the entire world, I guess?"

         "I'm gonna take that as you're doing absolutely fantastic." Christen smiled but the glassy eyes gave away her true emotions to Tobin. Alex and Kelley made small conversation but the majority of the time, the dining area was silent, minus the tiny clinking noises of cutlery scraping across plates. Soon everyone left to go back to their hotel rooms. Tobin and Christen stayed behind, questions unasked between them. 

         "Can we take a walk?" Tobin asked and even though all Christen wanted to do was go back to her air conditioned room and cry into her pillow, she said yes.

Because she could never say no to Tobin Heath. They decided to just walk around the perimeter of the hotel, Christen speaking up first.

         "I'm sorry Tobs. I let you down. I should have been able to score and I couldn't and fuck. There was so much pressure and I didn't want to but I had to because I thought about how proud you'd be if I made it and I just ruined everything because I didn't know how and God, I just kept on thinking how happy everyone would be. I mean I knew it would never happen because dreams don't always come true, but I just had this crazy thought that maybe, just maybe, if I got that ball in, and Hope saved the last shot, then I could have ran to you. Wrapped my arms around you, and..."

         "And what Chris?"

         "And kiss you, but l couldn't because first I didn't make it and I'm just Christen Press. And you probably could have had Alex, Alex Morgan, best striker, forward, and best soccer player of eternity with the most beautiful eyes, face, and personality. And I was just Christen. Just a girl from California trying to play soccer. I just want you Tobs, and I know that won't happen because I let everyone down-" Christen's speech was cut off short by Tobin embracing her tightly, as if she never wanted Christen to let go. The two were silent in the night, sounds coming from cars zooming through the highway and streets, cicadas buzzing endlessly, and their breaths, heavy and slow, mingling in the humid air. Christen inhaled the smell of Tobin, a mix of vanilla and adventure, of trees and nomads, of the ocean and forest. It was something she never wanted to part from. Tobin closed her eyes and let the scent of cinnamon and sun, of the beach and the sand, of the calm and tranquility take over. It was something she never wanted to part from. The two eventually parted though and contently stared at each other's eyes, brown and green and new beginnings. Tobin softly pressed her lips to Christen's forehead and stayed there, enjoying the warmth of the other girl. They separated when they heard Kling yell, "Get a room!".

         "I have surprise for you," Tobin whispered. "You just need to wait in your hotel room for ten minutes, okay?"

         "Okay.

 

~

         As soon as Tobin dropped off Christen at her room, she immediately gathered the entire team, excluding Mal, to help her. They set up at a park with a soccer goal next to the hotel. She had the team change into their jerseys and told Ali and Kelley to get Christen from her hotel room.

 

~

         Christen anxiously sat on the hotel bed waiting for some kind of hint to what her surprise could be. After panicking to Mal for a good ten minutes, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it, hoping to see Tobin, but was presented instead with Ali and Kelley.

         "Try to hide your disappointment in better next time Pressi," Ali laughed.

         "Come on, your surprise awaits you, m'lady," said Kelley. "Mal, you too." The four walked out of the hotel and down to the park where the lights now shone brightly.

         "Is this an intervention?" Christen asked, only half joking. 

         "Sort of, now change into this," Kelley shoved a jersey and cleats to Mal and Christen. The forwards changed behind a tree because the bathroom was dark and the two were not going to deal with that. When they came out, Ali wrapped a blindfold around Christen's eyes.

         "Where are you guys taking me? Mal, where's Mal?" Christen questioned, starting to get nervous.

         "Don't worry Press, if we wanted to kill you we'd done it long ago," Ali whispered. Mal, Kelley, and Ali led Christen down to the field and positioned their teammate four feet away from the goal and took off the blindfold. Christen almost stumbled from the bright lights in her vision but when things started to settle down, she saw Hope standing in front of the goal, gloves on her hands. Hope just smirked and gestured for Christen to turn around. She did and Christen saw the team standing in a line, arms wrapped around one another's shoulders. She saw Tobin emerge from the group and stopped breathing for a moment when Tobin whispered into her ear and said, "You can do it, Chris."

         Things suddenly made sense. As soon as Tobin went back to the rest of the team, Hope got in ready position. Christen almost threw up at the anxiety but she knew that she had to do this. This might not be an Olympic game, but she was with her teammates and a ball right in front of her, and that was what soccer was in that moment. She got two steps behind the ball, left foot in front first, and let her right connect with the ball, letting it soar into the goal as Hope dived the wrong way for the ball. She could hear her teammates creaming and shouting and jumping. Christen only saw Tobin though, standing at the side, with a proud smile on her lips. When Tobin nodded, Christen ran towards her, and engulfed her in a tight hug. Christen pulled away and immediately gazed into Tobin's eyes and then she was in love. Tobin quickly glanced at her lips and set Christen down to the ground, immediately swooping back in to press her lips to Christen's. She slowly dragged her lips so they were captured between Christen's. Their lips fit and connected and when Tobin pulled away to look into Christen's eyes, she was in love. When their teammates ran towards them, Christen felt better. Things would get better. 

 

 


End file.
